Walk the Cornish Coast

Welcome to your seaside escape in Newquay here in the north of Cornwall. Make your own way to your accommodation, a comfortable, centrally-located outfit that boasts great views over Newquay Bay. There will be a welcome meeting at 2 pm, when you’ll meet your local host, your group, and get over an overview of your upcoming itinerary. After unpacking for the next few days and settling in, join your host for a walk around the town, and get a bit of insight into the town’s history and what makes this a famous surfing destination. You might wander the harbour, hike up to the 14th-century clifftop hut used to alert local fishermen to shoals of fish filling the bay, and soak up gull’s-eye views across the green and grey dotted headlands. You can follow the path of the Gannel estuary back into town, and drop into the ornamental Trenance Gardens, backed by the train line viaduct that brought Newquay to the attention of seasonal visitors in the Victorian era. This evening is free for you to find a place for dinner – your host will have suggestions on hand.

Begin the day inspired by the ocean as you undertake a yoga flow this morning. Practice your sun salutation and downward dog and stretch out in preparation for a walk later on. Then, grab your hiking boots and take a transfer to the start of the walk. Head down the coast to a former major centre of Cornish mining, where over 100 mines once dotted the landscape. Take the coastal paths across purple blooming heather and gorse to hilltops that offers panoramic views along the cliffs – on clear days as far as Padstow in the north and St Ives Bay in the south. Pass relics to a mining industry that only ended in the early 20th century, including dilapidated engine houses and chimneys perched on the cliff’s edge. Walk in the footsteps of the miners, all with a backdrop of ocean blues you might more normally associate with the Mediterranean. After the walk, take some time to explore the nearby main village, a jumble of granite cottages and main buildings spread over the surrounding hills and valleys, before returning to Newquay.

Start early and fuel up with a hearty breakfast before you get those legs ready for another walk today, this time heading north to the stretch of Trevose headland that juts out into the Atlantic and boasts views far along the horizon. This is a protected section of rugged coastline and is an official 'Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty', where marine wildlife, rare plants and headland animals will be free to flourish. Take a walk across sandy beaches, past collapsed caves and shipwrecks, look out across the ocean from the lighthouse, see sheltered coves and try to spot grey seals lolling and peregrine falcons soaring. You’ll have worked up an appetite, so enjoy lunch at a small, family-run bakery in Padstow that make Cornish pasties the traditional way. Take some time to wander around this pleasant town clustered around the harbour, before taking a public bus to Newquay and celebrating your final night.

Your Intrepid Retreats experience in Cornwall comes to an end today after breakfast.